Team work

Team Work is used predominantly to conduct the primary work sequences in the planning and Design process with the aim of ensuring an integrated and interdisciplinary product development process. Methods such as Simultaneous engineering are based largely on team work in developing the product, production and sales & marketing for a complete product lifecycle.

Independent engineering teams headed by project managers are formed on a temporary basis. These small core teams transcend departmental boundaries and are populated by specialists from engineering, work scheduling, marketing and sales (as appropriate to the task and product in question). Experts from other sections are often also seconded to teams for a limited time.

A team will usually employ methodical engineering techniques and use group dynamic components for their main tasks, which include clarifying the task at hand, finding and evaluating a solution, assessing the risks involved and planning a timeline. In doing so, the team will use a range of tools such as:

• Brainstorming
• The gallery method
• Selection and evaluation processes
• Fault tree analysis

However, a large proportion of design and engineering work is done by individuals (such as Strength tests, application of standards).